All Saints have given utmost importance to chanting God’s name in the current age of kalyug. Tulsidasji says,

Nahīn kali karam na bhagati bibeku, Rām nām avalamban eku.

Nam sankirtanam yasya sarva pappranashanam,

Pranamo dukhshamanastam namami harim param.

Singing and chanting God’s name destroys our sins.  This is its definite result.  How are sins destroyed?  How can a sinner have the power to destroy the sins performed by the sinner him/herself?

Sins are not destroyed through the power of the chanter but through the power of the name being chanted.  The power in the name is that of the person who the name belongs to, which is God.  Thus sins are destroyed through the power of God.   Ajāmil was a sinner.  He uttered Nārāyan on his deathbed although he was calling out to his son, Narayan and not God.  Even then, his sins were destroyed through the strength of Lord Narayan.

When sins are destroyed, we develop love for God.  Our sins prevent us from developing love for God.  Our Saints say that God’s name is sweet.

Madhur madhur nām Sītārām Sītārām.

However, this is not necessarily our experience.  Our lips are uttering God’s name but our heart does not experience the sweetness.  Why?  Is it not sweet?  Are the Saints lying?

This does not mean that the name of God is not sweet.  When one is illness having accumulated many sins, one does not experience sweetness in the name of God.  Then, what is the solution? God’s name at this stage is like a medicine.   Even if it doesn’t feel sweet, continue to sing or chant it.  The more we chant God’s name, the more sins are destroyed and the more these sins are destroyed, the more we begin to experience the sweetness in God’s name.  This is the reason why chanting God’s name holds great importance.

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